A scimitar through the heart for Celtic supporters who adored Jota. Arabian nights for the Portuguese once he signs for Al-Ittihad. Dark days for the fans who would see the loss of the league title in the new season as like being cast into a desert wilderness of another kind.
An even darker cloud over Scottish football in general if you consider any Saudi Pro League club could sign any player from here with a click of their fingers? Not really. Their government-backed profile is to acquire players with the lure of life-changing money. Players at Celtic and Rangers are eminently gettable because, relatively speaking, they don’t earn that much in the first place. Multiplying their annual salary is less expensive than getting Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema, that’s for sure.
But the reality is Celtic are the only team in the country who have the calibre of player the Saudis would remotely consider. And, with specific regard to Jota, what would anyone honestly expect Celtic to do under the circumstances? A 400 per cent profit on a player they only signed on a permanent deal from Benfica 12 months ago? It would be corporate negligence not to make that kind of profit so long as you recycle the money on the transfer market for your own good.
Brendan Rodgers will know that, being the man left with much more money to spend than his only rival for the Premiership title, Rangers’ Michael Beale. I don’t think there’s any prospect of Brendan now regretting the guarantee he gave of still being at Celtic when his new, three-year contract reaches its expiry date. Why would he? Unless, of course, selling the club’s prize assets one by one undermines his position and alters the circumstances that tempted him to accept Dermot
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